[LINK] ArsT: 'Microsoft Word, RIP: 1983 - 2009'

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Mon Aug 3 21:48:36 AEST 2009


Microsoft Word, RIP: 1983 - 2009
By Jeremy Reimer
Last updated August 2, 2009 11:04 PM CT

Ars writer Jeremy Reimer contemplates the life and times of Microsoft 
Word, the reasons it has endured for so long, and its (lack of?) 
prospects in a post-print, wiki-based world.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/08/microsoft-word-1983---2009-rest-in-peace.ars/2

Go into any office today and you'll find people using Word to write 
documents. Some people still print them out and file them in big 
metal cabinets to be lost forever, but again this is simply an old 
habit, like a phantom itch on a severed limb. Instead of printing 
them, most people will email them to their boss or another coworker, 
who is then expected to download the email attachment and edit the 
document, then return it to them in the same manner. At some point 
the document is considered "finished", at which point it gets dropped 
off on a network share somewhere and is then summarily forgotten.

People keep doing this, but it is an astoundingly awful way to work. 
Here are just a few of the problems:

...

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW



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